Fatherly Duties
by TM Twilight Girl
Summary: This is what I'd like to have seen happen concerning Edward beginning after he disabled Bella's truck. WARNING - Non-sexual Spankings.
1. UnStacking the Deck

**Author's note: I've recently been reading FantasmaBella's wonderful story, **_**Not a Democracy**_**, and it inspired me to get some frustrations about Twilight out, namely that Edward needs to take Bella's view into account instead of dismissing it whenever they disagree. This is my story about what I would have liked to see happen starting the day after Edward disabled Bella's truck. There will be spankings and talk of spankings. If you don't like that, don't read, and don't flame. **

**The whole story will be in Carlisle's point of view.**

**Chapter 1 – Un-stacking the Deck**

Edward's Italy incident wasn't the first time I've had to spank one of my children, and knowing them, it wouldn't be the last. It was, however, the harshest I'd ever been with any of them. There were so many bad decisions that preceded the actual suicide event that I didn't fully understand until Edward eventually explained it to me. The common theme that ran throughout his whole story was Edward's dismissal of Bella's wishes when he had deemed that he knew what was best for her.

It had been just over three weeks since I had to discipline Edward for his continual lack of respect for Bella as an equal. I thought that we had settled all this unpleasantness, but lately, he seemed to be struggling with the same thing again.

That being said, it was no surprise when I got home from work on a Wednesday evening to find Alice and Edward having a silent conversation right in front of Bella who was trying but failing to cover up the fact that she absolutely hated when they did this to her. Alice rolled her eyes at something, and Edward's face was unyielding. Whatever he had decided was set in stone as far as he was concerned.

For all the talk about how stubborn Bella could be, I was pretty sure that my young son had her beaten, hands down.

"Hardly." Edward rolled his eyes at me.

"Hardly what?" Bella asked, looking at Edward.

"Nothing, love." Edward kissed the top of her head.

Bella threw Edward a dirty look. He was being rather condescending in my opinion, and it looked like Bella agreed.

"I was thinking that Edward was more stubborn than you by far." I told her, not wanting to keep her in the dark the way Edward always seemed to do.

Bella fought a smile. She clearly thought that Edward was stubborn as well. I knew he was stubborn. I had to not so subtly remind him on many occasions over the years. I hoped that this wouldn't be one of those instances. He needed to relax where Bella was concerned.

"It's for her own protection, Carlisle." He told me like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You need to stop treating her like she's five, Edward." I scolded him out loud so that Bella would know how I felt about the way he treated her sometimes. "Commenting on what I had thought without telling her what I had thought was not for her protection. It was just plain rude."

"Thank you." Bella smiled at me, relishing in the camaraderie that she usually didn't have regarding the way Edward regarded her maturity. She had probably told him something similar before I was in hearing range.

"You want me to give her a running commentary on everything you're thinking?" He asked rolling his eyes once again.

"Of course not, Edward." I sighed in slight exasperation. "But if you are going to respond out loud, you should extend the courtesy of an explanation to those who don't have your ability to know why you are responding."

"Fine." He said, clearly humoring me.

"And speaking of protecting Bella, are you _protecting_ her by keeping her out of that silent conversation you're having with your sister?" I questioned skeptically, motioning between my two children.

"Thanks for that." He mumbled to me sarcastically, letting me know that he didn't appreciate the fact that I had just let her know they were keeping her out of the loop.

"She knew what we were doing, Edward." Alice informed him. He was evidently the only one who didn't know Bella could tell when they did that.

"Then why encourage your brother to engage in such a deceitful endeavor?" I raised an eyebrow at Alice.

"In this case, we really are trying to keep Bella safe." She told me, again ignoring the fact that Bella was in the room with them speaking about her in the third person.

"And this secret information you have will put her in jeopardy if she knows it?" I asked them skeptically. "_Information_ is the bad guy here?"

Neither one of my children looked like they were going to volunteer information here. It was a little surprising that Bella thought that she was at fault.

"They're afraid I will consider mutiny if they told me how they were going to keep me safe." She looked a little nervous to tell me this.

"Explain." I demanded from my children, not liking where this was heading.

I eyed my children who seemed to be playing a mental Roshambo to see which one of them had the unpleasant task of telling me what was going on.

"I'm sorry, Carlisle." Bella surprised me by speaking up, but hanging her head in shame, looking positively frightened of me. She must have thought I would be upset with her for some reason. "I know that Edward thinks that Jacob is dangerous. I disagree because…"

"That is what your silent conversation was about, your asinine rivalry with Jacob Black?" I asked Edward incredulously, interrupting her. I wanted to make absolutely clear that she knew that she wasn't the one in trouble here. She was well aware that I sometimes had to physically discipline my children. Considering that, it now made sense that she was frightened that I was about to discipline her in the same manner. I continued my rant, letting Edward know that I was upset I was. "Not the fact that Victoria is headed this way, but because you are trying to keep Bella from seeing her best friend?"

"Victoria is headed this way?" Bella asked Edward angrily, breaking out of her fear to yell at Edward. "Is that why you… started that argument between Charlie and me? To get me out of the state because Alice saw Victoria?"

"To get you as far away from the danger as possible, love." Edward tried to placate her.

Obviously, she had a different opinion.

"Don't you think that you should have at least told me?" Bella was on the verge of tears, shaking with anger. "If you'd shared that information with me, I wouldn't have tried to sneak to the reservation, and you wouldn't have had to disable my truck!"

_You did what?_ I asked him silently. He winced, catching the authoritative tenor of my thoughts.

"You knew I wanted to see him!" She breathed heavily, trying desperately to overcome her involuntary tears. "AND you know how stubborn _I_ am. Don't you think you should have at least mentioned how dangerous it would have been to go to the reservation alone?"

During Bella's whole rant, Edward tried to silently communicate with her that he needed her to not make this worse than it already was. His face pleaded with her to please let it go, but she was far too angry with him to recognize his facial cues or care about them if she did.

"I'm not _that_ stupid you know!" She began calming down a little. Her tirade was dying out. "I would have had enough sense to postpone my trip to the reservation if you'd have told me."

I looked over my children to see where to begin. I wasn't exactly sure what Alice's role was in this whole mess. I decided to start with her.

"And your part in this debacle?" I asked Alice.

"I called Edward and told him that Bella's future disappeared." Alice sighed heavily.

Bella's face lit up with realization. She finally understood that I wasn't upset with her. I was frustrated with my children.

"Even though I am very disappointed in you, Alice, I will excuse you with a very strong warning." I gave her a pointed look. "You will not engage in deceiving Bella or helping Edward _detain_ her unnecessarily."

"Yes sir." She ran off quickly before I changed my mind.

"As for you, son…" I started to lecture Edward.

"She has no idea how dangerous werewolves can be, Carlisle." Edward talked above her once again.

"And _Edward_ has no idea how much Jacob did for me when he was gone." Bella returned the favor and looked directly at me, completely ignoring the fact that Edward was sitting beside her. Tears still fell down her cheeks, but she had yet to let herself become emotional. "He seems to conveniently forget that Jacob protected me, and pretty much held me together when… when he… _left me for my own good_." Heavy sarcasm dripped throughout her last statement. She was obviously of the same opinion I was, that Edward should have consulted her before taking off.

"I didn't forget." He looked at her and tried to get her to look back at him. "I'm grateful…"

"And you shouldn't be expected to just drop your best friend because Edward doesn't like him." I added, sitting down next to her opposite Edward.

"It's not because I don't like him, Carlisle." Edward seethed. "It's because he's dangerous."

"And I disagree." Bella argued, still battling to remain stoic. "Jacob has never hurt me."

"But teenage werewolves are unstable, volatile, if he gets angry…" Edward countered.

"And vampires aren't?" She snapped at him. "I seem to remember you throwing me across the room because Jasper was out of control. You don't seem to have a problem when I hang out with Jasper, but because it's Jacob, you suddenly have a problem."

_She's right, son._ I thought to him.

"I have a _problem_ with it because I can't be there to protect you." Edward explained very slowly causing Bella to think he was insulting her intelligence.

"I don't know how to fight this, Edward." She finally gave in to her tears and let them overtake her. "You're already so much stronger than I am, smarter, faster, and more beautiful. Don't you think the deck is stacked against me enough already? Do you really feel you need to resort to using Alice to get your way when we disagree? I c-can-can't do this anymore, Edward!"

Edward reached out to comfort her, but she jerked away from him. I hated seeing her like this. I quickly touched her shoulder to let her know that she could lean on me if she so desired. Faster than I had thought possible, she threw her arms around my neck and began sobbing. I pulled her into my lap and held her.

I had already thought of her as my daughter, but I knew that her relationship with her parents wasn't a traditional one. Her mother was her friend, and her father left her alone most of the time. I had often wondered how she saw me. Did she view me as a parental figure or more of a friend as she viewed her mother or a detached stranger as she could have possibly seen her father? It surprised me that she would allow me to care for her this way, considering her selfless personality. Wasn't she always caring for others?

Yes, she was. It should be no surprise to Edward that Bella couldn't just drop her friends because he didn't want her to see him. She and Jacob had grown very close during our time away. Whether Edward knew it or not, Bella loved Jacob, not to the extent that she loved him. Nonetheless, she still loved Jacob. This had to be ripping her apart. How long could she live with Edward's stubborn refusal to let her see Jacob? Apparently, she had reached her limit.

"Please, Bella!" Edward begged, clearly anguished over what Bella had just said and probably my thoughts. "I can't live without you!"

Bella, realizing how her outburst must have sounded to him tried to comfort him, "I d-d-didn't m-m-mean it l-l-l-like that…"

_Let her calm down, son. I don't think she's going to leave you._ I thought to him, not wanting a repeat of his despair when he sought to kill himself in Italy. _And I allowed my thoughts to wander. I didn't mean that she was breaking up with you._

He nodded, shakily.

"Sh, Bella." I attempted to comfort her. "I've got you, sweetheart."

_Bella is right, though. Because of the inequality in your physical aspects, you have a much greater advantage during a disagreement. I'm extremely disappointed that you pressed that advantage to force Bella to comply with your wishes._ I gave him a preview of the lecture he could expect from me later.

"Hypocritical much?" He whispered to me, and I quirked an angry eyebrow at him. "Silent conversations while Bella is in the room."

"Would you prefer if I chastised you vocally?" I asked him loud enough that Bella could hear me. "I had been trying to allow you the benefit of privacy, but since you're determined to be difficult, I will reprimand you aloud."

Edward scowled at me, and Bella stopped crying to listen.

"May I say something first?" Bella asked me.

"Of course, Bella." I indulged her. This was, after all, about her.

"I didn't mean that I was leaving you, Edward." She told him. "I only meant to say that I couldn't fight about this anymore knowing that you were just going to rationalize forcibly keeping me from Jacob. I _am_ going to see Jacob, Edward. Deal with it."

Edward opened his mouth to argue, but I interrupted.

"And… you are not to keep her from it." I ordered, leaving no room for misinterpretation. "This has to stop, Edward. You need to learn to flex, to allow Bella to live her life. You will not prevent Bella from seeing her best friend.

"Furthermore, if I understand it correctly, Charlie has directed Bella to spend time with Jacob, and you are actively preventing her from obeying him. Is that correct?" I arched an eyebrow in question to my son.

"He doesn't understand the danger. I can't explain it to him, Carlisle. I would rather Bella be grounded than… _mishandled_ by Jacob." He defended his actions.

"And likewise, Jacob cannot explain to Charlie how dangerous _you_ are. Can he?" I felt like I was pointing out the obvious, but whether or not Edward had thought of it, he wasn't volunteering that information.

"How would you feel if Jacob started taking drastic measures to ensure you couldn't see Bella?" I continued questioning an increasingly sullen teenage vampire.

"That brings me to the crux of the matter, Bella's truck." I looked pointedly at my son who continued to stare at his shoes in silence. "Explain, now."

"As you know," Edward finally spoke, "Alice called to tell me that Bella's future had disappeared. I ran back from a hunt and disconnected her battery so that she would be unable to see Jacob."

"You asked Alice to let you know if Bella's future disappeared?" I pressed, and he nodded. "And did you ask your sister to see if Bella would sneak off to see Jacob if you told her the truth about Victoria?"

"No." He muttered.

"And obviously, I only meant that you should have told Bella about Victoria if it was the truth. If you lie to her about Alice's visions to manipulate her, you will also be in serious trouble."

"Serious trouble?" Bella looked up at me. "It just slipped out, Carlisle. I didn't mean to… to… get him in trouble."

"You've done nothing wrong, Bella." I told her, hoping that Edward would back me up on this, but no, he clearly thought that this was between them, and I shouldn't have been brought in the loop.

"Regardless of how I found out, I'm glad that I have because Edward's behavior has been reprehensible." I looked at Edward and found him staring at the ground. "Besides, she readily confessed everything she perceived as her own transgressions, and you have done nothing but try to cover up what you _know_ you did wrong."

"Please, Carlisle." She cried. "None of this would have happened if I hadn't tried to sneak off! I should have told him straight out where I was going!"

"Do you see what you're doing to her?" I asked Edward angrily. "She feels terrible because she went against you even though you had no right to order her to stay away from Jacob."

"This _was _between myself and Bella." He argued back at me. "She had no right to bring you into this."

"You mean the way you brought Alice into it?" Bella countered shyly, hiding her face in my shirt.

I honestly couldn't believe she had asked that, but it was true. Edward had no expectation that Bella should keep this between them if it was acceptable for him to employ his sister's talents to keep tabs on her.

"That's different, Bella." Edward snapped. "I was _trying_ to pro…"

"I want to go home, da-Carlisle." Bella interrupted him, quite finished listening to his feeble explanations. She had begun crying again.

Edward stood and held out his hand to escort her home. Bella started to shake her head and decline, but I beat her to it.

"I don't think so, son." I told him. "You are to wait for me in your room. I will drive Bella home."


	2. Standing Pat

**Chapter 2 – Standing Pat**

Bella barely managed to get upstairs without Charlie realizing that she had been crying. She didn't feel comfortable sharing this with him. I felt honored that she would lean on me for support instead.

Once she got to her bed, she seemed to be struggling to hold it together. I knew that she couldn't tell Charlie because he would be in danger of knowing too much about us. That didn't change the fact that Bella was still very emotional over the constant arguing with Edward. She wasn't going to last. She was going to break down.

I couldn't stand seeing her this way. Like my son had done so many times before, I climbed up to her window and knocked softly, pushing it open so that she knew who was calling on her. She let me in, and I comforted her until she fell asleep.

As I held her, I remembered that she had nearly called me dad. My heart swelled at the thought. She was my cherished daughter, and I longed to hear her call me dad for real. I didn't bring it up because I assumed that she felt conflicted about it. I didn't want her to feel that I was minimizing Charlie's role as her father. He truly loved and treasured her. He had a hard time showing it, but he did care very much for her. I also realized that though she loved him very much, she was emotionally distancing herself from him because very soon, she was going to have to cut all ties with him so that she could be with Edward forever.

I feel like my daughter knew what she was giving up to become like us, to some degree anyway. At the same time, she knew that she wanted forever with Edward, to become like him, like us. It gave me great fatherly pleasure to know that she trusted us to keep her from harming anyone during her newborn phase, and that she trusted me personally enough to not kill her while I changed her. Yes, I knew that she really wanted Edward to do it, and I could hardly blame her for that. She was insecure, and I didn't blame her for that either. Edward had broken her so completely when he left her in the forest, that now she constantly questioned whether or not he really wanted her.

That brings me to the last time I had to discipline him. I was infuriated that he would say such things to the love of his existence. How could he break her like that? In the vampire world, that was a nearly unspeakable offense. It isn't one that you could get killed for, but it is definitely something that could get him ostracized for all of eternity. Denying one's beloved was akin to blasphemy, and Aro could have punished him very harshly for that. Had Bella been a vampire already, he probably would have, but Aro sees humans as second class citizens, and probably didn't consider Bella's feelings worth a punishment.

I, on the other hand, did not agree with Aro in that regard, and Edward spent a good portion of an evening over my lap receiving discipline for his blatant disrespect of his beloved. Yes, I spanked him for attempting to end his life as well, but the crux of his disobedience came down to the fact he made catastrophic decisions that affected many people without taking their opinion or feelings into account. He felt that his ability to hear thoughts gave him a higher wisdom that enabled him to make superior decisions. He failed to take into account that his ability gave him no discernment or experience, and he would do well to defer to others with more of both.

This brings me to our current situation. Edward hadn't learned his lesson previously, and I needed time to consider how to get through to him. He was and is without a doubt, the most stubborn person I knew. He was about as flexible as a bowling ball, and I wasn't entirely sure he would learn his lesson this time either. I wished that I did know how to make him see wisdom, if not for his own sake, for Bella's. She was the one who was being hurt in this whole scenario, and Edward seemed to think that anything that helped keep her safe was worth it, up to and including breaking her heart.

I finally slipped out of Bella's arms and made my way back home. I found Edward pacing in his room, probably trying to figure out a way out of this.

"Sit." I ordered, and he immediately complied.

"Carlisle, I…" He started to explain to me.

"Stop." I held up my hand. "I've already heard your side, Edward. I do not wish to hear it again."

"But you're being unreasonable." He argued. "It _is_ very dangerous."

"You really want to do this again?" I asked in frustration, not expecting an answer. "You _are _getting a spanking today. Let me tell you why."

I took a deep breath before I recounted my list of grievances. "First, you know how I feel about the way you dismiss Bella's wishes when you disagree. You were told not to do that. I made very clear the consequences of that behavior after your return from Italy, did I not?"

Edward stubbornly looked at the ground and refused to answer me.

"It was not a rhetorical question, Edward." I growled at him.

"You did." He huffed.

"And disconnecting Bella's battery, knowing she couldn't put it back together was most decidedly dismissing her wishes." I told him.

"But she won't listen to me. She dismisses _my_ wishes." Edward argued.

"I doubt that very much." I frowned at him. "She probably hates having to go against you wishes. She _probably_ gives your wishes a lot of consideration before she decides. She is a very selfless person, Edward. It's killing her that she has to sneak around you to do what she feels is right. And believe me; she wouldn't be trying to see Jacob if she didn't feel that it's the right thing to do."

"It isn't right. I don't _want_ her to see him." He told me angrily.

"I never said that you had to _want_ her to see him." I replied as calmly as possible. My young son was grating on my nerves with his selfishness.

"Selfishness?" I he stood indignantly, responding to my thoughts. "Is it selfish for me to want to keep her safe?"

"Sit." I repeated calmly.

He stood defiantly for a few moments until I narrowed my eyes at him, and he complied.

"It is _selfish_ to assume you are right all of the time." I explained. "_That_ is what bothers me."

"But I _am_ right!" He shouted at me. "If she considered her safety for a single second…"

"She wouldn't be with you." I interrupted him. "Part of what you love about her is the fact that she looks beyond the danger and into the heart of a person. She sees the good in you despite the danger."

"But I'm in control. He's not." Edward argued.

"You don't know him well enough to determine that." I reasoned with him. "Bella does."

"No!" He gritted his teeth, stubbornly refusing my wisdom. "Alice can't see them, and I can't go with her! She can't go!"

"Enough!" I yelled, finished with this argument. "I don't really care if you agree with me, Edward. You will not force her to stay away from Jacob."

"I don't agree!" He stood once again and crossed his arms over his chest. "And I will do what is necessary to keep her safe!"

I could see Bella's frustration with him. He simply would not let this go. He was determined to win this argument or at the very least get his way, and she was determined to do the right thing.

"This is not a request, Edward." I walked forward to him and pushed his shoulder reminding him that he was supposed to be sitting. He resisted until he saw in my mind that I was about to spin him around and give him a few reminder swats. When he flopped back down onto his bottom, I continued. "You will not do anything to keep Bella from seeing Jacob. If I find out you disobeyed, we will have a much less pleasant repeat of the lesson you are about to receive. Am I understood?"

"Yes." Edward told me very defiantly.

"We are finally getting to my second reason for your spanking." I ignored the fact that we were probably going to end up having this discussion again. "I'm well aware that you and Alice both knew that what you were doing was wrong because both of you were ashamed to tell me what was going on."

"That's only because I knew you'd act _this_ way." Edward told me petulantly. "Her safety is more important than anything, Carlisle, but I wasn't particularly excited about getting…"

"You knew that I would be displeased with your behavior, yet you did it anyway?" I asked him.

"Yes." He nodded curtly. "I said that I was willing to endure anything to keep her safe. That includes your _discipline_."

"Then there's nothing more for me to say about it, Edward." I told him, shaking my head. "But heed my warning. If you continue down this path, you are going to lose her."

"You said that she wasn't going to leave me." He reminded me bitterly.

"I said that I didn't think she was going to leave you, but that's not entirely what I was talking about." I sighed. "Although she could decide that she can't handle your overbearing personality, it's more likely that she will change and lose all of the uniqueness that you cherish about her."

"It's just until she's out of danger." Edward resolved causing me to sigh in despair.

Bella was in for a lot more heartache at Edward's hand. All I could do was damage control. I hoped that today's spanking would cause him to pause when he considers being a selfish jackass.

"Let's not delay this any longer, Edward." I would have been crying for my daughter if I could have been. "Follow me to my office."

Edward rolled his eyes and rose from the bed where he was seated. He clearly thought that this was an unnecessary evil that he must endure to keep Bella safe. I was saddened that I hadn't gotten through to him. Maybe with time…

"I wouldn't count on it, Carlisle." Edward commented on my thoughts.

"Drop your pants and bend over the desk." I told him.

Edward preferred this position, and I indulged him as long as he was not fighting me. This was also the preferred position for all of my children, except for Alice. Her height made it hard to be positioned correctly over the desk. She actually preferred to stand in the middle of the room and touch her toes. It was a strange experience for me, but it worked. Sometimes, my children were not cooperative in their punishments, and they would have to be over my lap and pinned between my legs. If this happened, they were not allowed the modesty and protection of their undergarments. Other times, I have had them over my lap with their undergarments down if I feel I need to make a specific point, as I had with Edward when he attempted suicide in Italy. I hoped that I had made clear how I felt about suicide.

"I think you made _that_ abundantly clear, Carlisle." He responded to my thoughts dryly as he undid his belt.

"Yet… you failed to catch the _other_ points I was making," I responded firmly as he sighed and dropped his trousers and leaned over the desk, "that your point of view is not always the correct one, and shouldn't impose your will on Bella merely because she lacks the resources to stop you. Since I failed to covey this message the last time we were here, I plan on making it clear today."

I tried to let that seep into his mind before I let fly the first smack. He grunted a bit at the impact, not expecting me to start so harshly, as I usually built up to this point. He failed to take into account that I didn't respond mercifully to those who purposefully and calculatingly break rules and hope to ask for forgiveness. In my family, it was _not_ better to ask forgiveness than permission. I _would_ indeed forgive him, but I would make damn sure he thought about it before he repeated this disobedience.

I continued to rain down rather powerful swats, increasing the intensity as I went along. I covered all of his bottom and upper thighs systematically as I showed him my displeasure with his disregard of Bella's wishes.

Normally, I would spank until I felt my point was made, but tonight with Edward, I had no idea if I was making any impact whatsoever. It still felt as if he was being rather insubordinate. Instead of my usual pattern, I determined to spank him for twice as long as I felt that I would have, had he been more repentant, trying to let him know that I didn't appreciate repeating lessons that I had already had to teach.

"Damn it, Carlisle!" he yelled at me, "that's not fair!"

Before I responded to that outburst, I placed five extremely hard smacks on his upper thighs, and he yelped out.

"I want you to consider what you're risking before you try this again, son." I explained my reason for the prolonged punishment calmly. "And I would also like to remind you to keep your temper in check if you wish to keep your last layer of protection. Am I clear?"

He knew that I expected an answer, but he didn't give me one. In response, I gave another blistering to his thighs again, letting him know with my mind that I intended to continue this assault until he answered.

"Yes, sir!" He nearly screamed after seven swats.

"Wonderful." I told him as I resumed my previous rhythm, determining now, that I might as well extend this a little bit more, seeing as Edward clearly hadn't gotten the message yet.

"Please, Carlisle!" He cried out. "I'm sorry!"

I continued thrashing his backside as I addressed him. "You're sorry for…?" I questioned him, not believing that it was for his complete disrespect for Bella.

"Yes, Carlisle!" He choked out. "I'm sorry for that! I won't do it again!"

"If you are lying to me…" I slowed down but intensified the blows. "We will have this same discussion again, over my lap. Do you understand me?"

"I'm not lying! I promise to do better!" He begged me.

"You promise what, Edward?" I questioned him while I focused on his sit spots. "You have yet to actually say what you are apologizing for and promising to do."

He whimpered as he thought about how to word his response.

This, as they say, was not my first rodeo. I had been down this road before with Emmett who gave me a vague promise and later told me I couldn't hold him accountable because he didn't actually promise anything specifically. After an extended spanking, Emmett found out that I didn't mess around with semantics. I expected discipline to produce noticeable results.

Edward was struggling with forming words, so I decided to tell him exactly what he was promising, not knowing if he could form a rational sentence.

"I understand your promise to mean that you will not blatantly disregard Bella's wishes when they differ from yours, and if you use your abilities to force her to conform to your wishes, you will be back in this very room over my knees. Furthermore, you will not disrespect her by keeping secrets from her or treating her like a child. That's what I will assume you are promising whether you actually say the words or not." I told him as I finished spanking him.

"Yes sir." He cried as he collapsed down onto the desk.


	3. River Card

**Chapter 3 – River Card**

It had been just over two weeks since I was forced to discipline my son. He and Bella seemed to have worked it out. I knew for a fact that she had seen Jacob six days before. Though he had not been happy about it, apparently he had not prevented her from going.

Since I consider our marriage a partnership, I, of course, told my wife everything Edward and I discussed, including my promise to blister his backside should he ever engage in this behavior again. She heartily agreed and promised to protect Bella as well.

She and I hadn't seen much of Bella these days because she had been busy. I missed my daughter terribly, but I knew that her biological father had a finite amount of time left with her. I had eternity to spend with her.

I was feeling a little stretched over the last few weeks, worrying about Bella and Edward. On a whim, I asked a colleague to cover for me for the night. I wanted to reconnect with my wife. Maybe her feminine wiles could distract me from my worry.

I was thrilled to get off work a little early so that I could take my wife out for an intimate encounter outdoors. As most vampires, we enjoyed a healthy sex life. What can I say? We both quite liked the outdoors. The ambient sounds in our house were quite a disturbance to tenderness and unhurried love-making. The subtle symphony of the open air created the most romantic setting possible.

My good mood was spoiled when I arrived to the sound of my youngest daughter desperately trying not to cry. It sounded like Bella was upstairs in Edward's room gritting her teeth together and holding her breath periodically to prevent a real breakdown.

Alice avoided eye contact with me as I made my way to Esme to kiss her. My beautiful wife returned my kiss passionately. We were distracted from our reunion by a particularly loud sob coming from our daughter upstairs.

"What's wrong with Bella?" I asked her when we broke apart.

"I don't know." Esme looked at the ceiling, worried. "She wouldn't tell me. She wouldn't even eat her dinner. She just went up to Edward's room and started… _this_… as soon as she got here. I tried to get her to tell me what's wrong, but she wouldn't say."

"I didn't see her car." I wondered how and why she came here when Edward was hunting, especially if she was just coming here to cry. Not that I minded. She was more than welcome to come here for a good cry, with or without Edward. I just wanted to get to the bottom of this and possibly, help her through it. "Did she and Charlie have a fight? Is that why she's here crying?"

"I don't think so. Alice told me that Bella wanted a sleepover until Sunday." She explained. "I called Charlie to set it up for them. Charlie didn't sound upset with her in any way. Maybe something else happened, and she didn't want Charlie to see her like this."

"Alice asked for a sleepover?" I clarified growing very mistrustful of my children.

"Yes, she seemed to think that Bella would like her new car." Esme cast another concerned glance up at the ceiling. "But Bella seemed angry with Alice about something. She wouldn't talk to her at all. Alice really tried to get her to come downstairs and have fun, but Bella wouldn't even look at her."

That didn't sound like Bella at all. She generally didn't treat people that way. I needed to find out what was behind this. I excused myself from Esme with a quick kiss and sprinted full speed up to Bella's room. I took a deep breath before knocking softly on the door.

"I don't f-f-feel like t-t-talking." She managed to choke out from Edward's couch, never turning around to see me.

I glanced in and saw that Edward had a rather large bed that she seemed to be avoiding. This led me to believe that she was angry with Edward as well as Alice.

"It's me, sweetheart." I announced my presence. I needed to gently tell her that I wasn't taking no for an answer as I made my way over to her. "I…"

It turns out; I didn't have to tell her anything. She was more than willing to let her guard down with me.

"Oh, Carlisle!" The dam burst and she was sobbing, and clinging to me.

I wasted no time cradling her on my lap. For the longest time, sobs wracked her small, fragile body, as I stroked her back and hair to comfort her. Finally, she began to calm down.

"I-I-It hurts, da-Carlisle." She managed to whimper to me, causing my heart to simultaneously swell with happiness and constrict from her pain.

"I know, sweet pea." I kissed her head. "Sometimes talking about it will help. Did something happen, sweetheart?" I coaxed her into telling me.

"You said that he-he-he couldn't t-t-treat m-m-me this way." She held her chest, in apparently very real pain. Her emotional pain had manifested itself physically.

"_Edward_ hurt you, sweet pea?" I sought verbal confirmation of what I had begun to suspect.

"Mmhmm." She nodded against my chest.

"Was it physical, Bella?" My voice hardened as I looked into her eyes. I hoped for his sake it wasn't.

"N-n-n…" She shook her head, but I got the meaning.

"Has he been disregarding your wishes again?" I was pretty sure this was it.

"He never stopped." She confirmed.

What did she mean he never stopped? Did she mean that by the time it was brought up again, he had reverted to his old self, or was he lying to me? While I was attempting to gain control of my temper, I heard Alice shriek in pain.

"Ow, mom!" Alice's voice carried upstairs, and Bella jumped from the shock of it.

Bella looked at me in confusion, and I just shrugged as we heard Esme and Alice approaching the door to Edward's room. Alice was protesting the whole way. I nearly laughed when I saw my wife dragging Alice down the hall by her ear.

"Explain, now, Alice." Esme growled at her.

"Edward asked me to keep Bella here while he hunted." Alice mumbled.

"Go on." Esme ordered, not letting go of Alice's ear.

"He knew that Bella was planning on seeing Jacob on Saturday. He gave me a yellow Porsche as payment to keep her away from him." She admitted reluctantly.

"AND?" Esme tweaked her ear a little so that she would finish.

"Ow! Okay! I involved mom in this by asking her to arrange the sleepover, knowing that Bella would think that she was in on it as well." Alice squeaked.

"Lied to me, Alice, and tricked me." Esme corrected her and turned her sideways and landed five sharp swats on Alice's backside.

"Sorry, mom!" Alice yelped. "Yes, I lied!"

Esme turned her back to face me.

"You didn't see this outcome?" I questioned her.

"No, I saw Bella complying." Alice confessed. "I didn't know the whole future would disappear when she called Jacob to cancel their plans."

I found that I couldn't deal with her at this moment. Bella was my priority.

"I will deal with you later, Alice." I saw her search the future and shiver in fright over what she saw coming. "Please go to your room and wait for me."

"Yes, dad." Alice retreated sadly out of the room.

Esme made her way slowly and hesitantly to sit beside Bella and me.

"Oh my sweet…" Esme started to apologize but Bella cut her off.

"I'm sorry Esme!" Bella wailed, wrapping her arms around my lovely wife, also known as the best mother in the world. "I thought you…"

"I know dearest, and I don't blame you." Esme kissed the top of her head. "Alice and Edward are the ones who tricked me. Alice made it sound like you wanted to spend the weekend here."

"I-i-it's not that I didn't w-w-want to…" Bella tried to make sure Esme's feelings weren't hurt.

"Ssh, sweet girl." Esme stroked her hair out of her face. "I know she never asked you, and you had other plans."

"I'm sorry." Bella cried again.

"I know, dearest. It isn't your fault." Esme assured her again. "But I know you feel like it is because your heart is so big, and you try to make everyone happy."

"I don't know what to do." She cried.

"Bella, Esme, Carlisle." Rosalie knocked on the door frame, interrupting Bella. "I honestly didn't know either. Alice asked me over to talk with Bella about my past. She never said anything about kidnapping her."

I never even considered that Rosalie was part of this juvenile plan. She and Edward didn't see eye to eye where Bella was concerned. She felt that Bella should stay human, like Edward did, but she also admired a woman who knew what she wanted and went after it. Bella was that woman. It was hard to see right now, but she definitely didn't let anyone dissuade her from doing the right thing.

"I didn't think you were part of this." I assured her.

"But I don't think Bella knew." She reminded me. "I know I haven't been your biggest supporter, but I can't stand that Edward thought that kidnapping you was acceptable."

"Thank you, Rosalie." Bella whispered.

"You're welcome." Rosalie looked uncomfortable being thanked by Bella, but she was still gracious about it. "But… I don't really want to hear..." Rosalie trailed off suggestively, letting me know that she was taking off now so that she didn't have to hear Alice getting in trouble.

"It's fine, Rose." I told her. "Please don't tip Edward off, though."

"That bastard deserves to be surprised on his return." She laughed. "He conspired to have Bella abducted. That's pretty low in my book."

"Off you go." Esme chuckled at her daughter as Rosalie dashed out to the garage to her car.

"Speaking of kidnapping, why does Edward suddenly have a problem with your plan to see Jacob?" I brought the conversation to the point I'd been wondering about all night. "I know that he wasn't particularly thrilled that you went to see Jacob last week, but he didn't prevent you from going."

"The _only_ reason he didn't prevent it last week was because I snuck off." She admitted sheepishly. "He thought he had me sufficiently watched, but I… tricked him."

"I don't think I quite understand what happened after I disciplined him two weeks ago. He promised me that he wouldn't disrespect you and dismiss your wishes." I looked to her for an explanation.

Bella bit her lip nervously as she thought about how best to explain to me.

"Edward told me that being spanked hadn't changed anything. I wasn't allowed to see Jacob." She peeked at me gauging my reaction. I tried to remain as stoic as possible, but inside my venom was boiling. "And if I wanted to tattle on him, it would be my fault when you didn't let him see me again."

"He told you that I threatened to keep him from you?" I sought clarification while I tried desperately not to allow my rage to boil over while I held my darling daughter in my arms.

Edward read my thoughts and responded to make me believe that I had gotten through to him. When he got home Saturday, I would not make the same mistake again.

"Yes," she nodded, "and when he went hunting last week, he let me know that he would be watching and only fifteen minutes from me in case I tried to plan on seeing Jacob."

"How did you manage to elude him?" I was pleased that she had figured something out, but still very angry that Edward had forced her to employ surreptitious methods to do what she felt was right.

"I didn't plan on going until I was informed that I wasn't needed at work that day. I got the idea and made a snap decision to go." She explained. "I took the chance that I could beat Edward to the border of the Reservation, knowing that I only had fifteen minutes to get there."

"That was very clever." Esme praised her resourcefulness, and I nodded in agreement.

"Edward wasn't as impressed as we are?" I guessed.

"Not so much." She shivered, making me wonder exactly what he did to convey that message.

"What did he do?" Esme asked warily, stealing the thought out of my head.

"As soon as I crossed the border on the way back from La Push, he tailgated me all the way to Angela's house and growled at me in my bedroom when I got home." She was fearful of him.

"Did you think he was going to hurt you, Bella?" I tipped her chin up and looked into her eyes. I didn't have to hear her answer to know that she actually thought that he might.

"Maybe for a little bit." She admitted. "He claimed that he almost violated the treaty, so I was afraid for his safety, but mostly, I thought he was going to l-l-leave m-m-me because I disobeyed."

"First, let's leave 'disobey' out of anything regarding a disagreement between you and Edward." I admonished her. "You are his girlfriend, not his daughter. You are in no way bound to obey Edward."

She looked very scared, like she was waiting for us to tell her some very bad news, but I wasn't sure what it was. I went on with what I had to say, hoping that I would somehow assuage those fears.

"He loves you, Bella." I told her. "He has a hard time when he can't be there to intervene. He promised to relax, but obviously, he was lying to me. But I don't think that he ever intends on leaving you."

"But he did leave me." She reminded me. "You all left me."

"Oh, dearest." Esme cried as she clutched our daughter. "It is the single biggest regret I have. I allowed Edward to talk me into leaving because he convinced us that it was what was best, and what you wanted. I am so deeply sorry, Bella."

"I too, have not apologized properly for my part in making you feel unsure about your place in our family." I agreed with Esme. "It is an egregious error that I lament tremendously. I allowed my emotionally immature son to make decisions that I should have investigated and made for the family. I am so very sorry for the hurt I've caused you."

"Edward's a good liar." She repeated robotically. He had obviously told her this as an explanation. I wondered if she even knew anymore when he was telling her the truth.

"Will you please forgive us?" Esme held her breath, hoping that Bella would absolve us of our guilt.

"You won't do it again?" She looked between the two of us, slightly scared to trust us again.

"Never," I vowed, "we will never leave you again."

"And I'm sure Edward never intends to leave you either." Esme added.

"I'm so angry," she took a deep breath, struggling to control her emotions, "and hurt," another breath, "and I wish I c-could show him how it feels," she was losing the battle, "but there isn't anything," she grabbed her chest, "I can do to make him feel as insignificant as he makes me feel." She held up a finger, letting us know that she wasn't finished, but she needed to take a second to collect herself. "And I feel bad because I want him to hurt."

At the end of her explanation, she broke down again and collapsed into Esme's arms. I had never quite had an experience like this with one of my children. This was a completely new position. Bella was in my lap and holding on to Esme. Our children had been sad before, but none of them had ever broken down to this extent.

"We'll find a way to get through to him, sweetheart." I promised her. "I know my loving son is in there somewhere."

"I know," she sighed, "that's what makes this so frustrating. I love him, and I know he loves me, but he can't treat me like this."

"No, dearest, he cannot." Esme supported her fully. "I think that he needs a taste of his own medicine, Carlisle. What do you think?"

"No hunting alone, and no unsupervised time with Bella?" I suggested.

"How about no unsupervised time at all?" Esme amended my idea. "He has kept Bella under constant watch to ensure she doesn't step a toe out of line. I think he deserves the same treatment."

"I suppose I should quit treating Edward like he plans on changing." I agreed. "It's very difficult for me to see that he actually isn't trying to be better, that despite my directive, he continued to usurp my authority, and will do it again at the first opportunity."

"We both need to take off the rose colored glasses, dear." Esme nodded.

"We will both make sure he never does this again, Bella." I promised her.

"But he's your son." Bella argued.

"And you, sweet pea, are my daughter." I kissed her on the cheek. "You have no less of a place in our family than he does."

"Or Alice." Esme added. "She might be our little pixie, but you, dearest, are just as big of a part of this family as she is."

"In fact, as my first official fatherly duty, I would like to let you borrow my car tomorrow, so that you can go to La Push to see Jacob." I told her, earning a big smile in response.

"Really? You both want me to be your daughter?" She seemed unsure if that was true.

"Of course, sweet pea." I guaranteed her. "We love you."

"Even if I'm so mad at Edward that I don't want to sleep in this room because it reminds me of him, and I want to disable his car so that _he_ can't drive it, and I want to break his piano, and spend the next _week_ with Jacob just to show him that he doesn't own me." She ranted becoming angrier with ever phrase.

"That's a long list." Esme chuckled. "Are you really _that_ angry with him?"

"Yes." She hung her head in shame. "I know I shouldn't, but right now, I want him to hurt as much as he hurt me." She admitted. "Doesn't that disgust you? Does that make you want to take back what you said about me being your daughter?"

"No," Esme and I both told her at the same time.

"Of course you're hurt and angry, sweet pea." I squeezed her more tightly to reassure her that I love her no matter what. "I'd be very worried if you weren't. You are a special girl. I'm proud to have you as my daughter."

"Even if I'm too angry to speak with Edward for a few days?" She peeked at me nervously.

"Even if you decided you didn't want to be with him anymore." I promised her.

Her shoulders visibly relaxed at this promise. She looked up at me with hopeful eyes.

"Can I call you mom and dad?"


	4. Breaking the Pair

**Chapter 4 – Breaking the Pair**

Esme and I kept Alice out of school to deal with her discipline. We wanted to finish this before Bella got back from Jacob's. I didn't know how long she would be there, and I definitely didn't want her hearing Alice's spanking.

I sat in my office reflecting on my troubled heart at Bella asking me time and again if I was sure about letting her borrow my car. She was so unsure of her place in the family and in my heart that she couldn't believe I would behave so fatherly towards her. I wish I could figure out something to assure her that she was very much my daughter.

I only hoped that her transition into our family would be smooth. It has not always been the case for my children. Edward didn't fully accept me as his father until after he returned from his ten year experiment with the normal vampire diet. When he came home with his head down and his shoulders slumped, I didn't know if he would ever want to be part of our family. Amazingly, he had already decided and embraced me as his father that very day. Rosalie was my next child, and she didn't accept Esme and I as parents until after Emmett joined our family. His transition happened quickly. Emmett called me 'pops' within weeks of being changed. Rosalie started soon after Emmett. I knew that he was in every way her anchor to this family. Over the years, she has grown to love all of us for herself, and not as an extension of Emmett. Alice and Jasper came to our family next through unusual means. They found us through Alice's gift. I was floored when Alice hugged me and called me dad, the moment she met me. Jasper acted more like expected, suspicious and nervous all of the time. He was by far the hardest to acclimate to our family. For years, he hovered around the edges of the family, not trusting anyone until the day he tried to attack Esme.

Alice had relieved Edward of some of his less than attractive clothing without asking. Of course, Edward didn't care, but Esme thought she should impress upon our daughter the importance of personal property. Jasper overheard Esme's chastisement of Alice and attacked Esme. Edward heard the whole thing in his head, and stepped in to stop him.

Of course, I wasn't particularly happy that Jasper had tried to bite my wife, but I did understand that he had no concept of the way our family worked, no experience in his immortal life that would allow him to believe that Alice would be reprimanded, but with no permanent damage. I tried to hold off disciplining Jasper as his coven leader, wanting to wait until he felt comfortable enough to accept me as his father, but I simply couldn't let this infraction slide. I spanked him for the first time even though I thought it would be a miserable experience. It actually brought Jasper closer to the whole family, especially me. After his spanking, he called me 'pa' for the first time.

Over the years, I had given out more than my fair share of spankings, and Esme had been called upon to do so as well from time to time. Emmett usually got in trouble for some ridiculous prank. Jasper was pretty self-disciplined, and only rarely got in trouble for taking unnecessary risks with his control. When Rosalie was new to this life, she was nasty and disrespectful, but those necessary lessons seemed to come less frequent as she matured. Alice usually got in trouble when she was using her vision to disobey without getting caught, like she had assisted Edward on this occasion.

Ah, Edward… He usually got in trouble for his anger, but lately his know-it-all attitude was what had been earning him a sore bottom. I sighed uncomfortably when I realized that I was about to deliver two very painful spankings, one to Alice, and the other much less pleasant one to Edward.

I had reached the end of my patience with him, and I planned on making him feel my displeasure with his treatment of Bella as soon as he arrived home from his hunting trip. How would I be able to do that, knowing that he could very easily lie to me about remorse? He continued to hurt Bella again and again, and I would be hard pressed to keep Bella from heartache.

Bella… my little sweet pea, I didn't know how to help her feel more a part of this family. Edward's attitude certainly didn't help matters. On the one hand, he told her that he didn't want to change her, and that made her feel unloved. On the other hand, he was constantly using his own powers to put her at a disadvantage. I'm sure that made her feel like she could never measure up. I wish that she could see that her value as a person didn't depend on what Edward thought of her.

"Dear," Esme cupped my face in her hands to get my attention. I had been sitting behind my desk, lost in thought, and the look of concern on her face told me that she had attempted to speak with me several times, and I had not responded.

"I'm sorry, darling." I finally looked into her eyes and kissed her and pulled her into my lap to show her that she had my attention.

"Are you alright?" She worried about me.

"I'm worried about Bella." I explained my aloofness.

"As am I," she agreed.

"And I am in no way looking forward to disciplining both Alice and Edward, especially since Edward will be especially difficult." I admitted.

"You need a quick hunt." She told me. "I will handle Alice, and then we will go together to snag something quickly in the forest."

"You don't have to…" I felt awful that she had taken this unpleasantness on herself.

"You are more than welcome to say your piece with Alice, but _I_ am going to spank her this time." Esme told me in no uncertain terms. "She lied and manipulated me, and caused our daughter to believe that I had conspired with the two of them to kidnap her. I feel that I need to impress upon her the need to respect me."

"But she disobeyed a direct order from me to not engage in helping Edward detain her unnecessarily." I added. "Likewise, I can't allow that to go unpunished."

"And valued her sister's feelings less than the price of a new car." Esme looked to be on the verge of tears, though I knew that they would never fall. "That's probably the most heinous thing she did."

"I'm sorry, mama." Alice spoke softly from her room after hearing the list of charges stacked up against her.

"Join us." I commanded less forcefully as I would have a few moments ago, the regret in Alice's voice deflated my anger and disappointment a good deal.

Esme made her way around my desk to sit on my couch just as Alice sat down next to her.

"Do you have anything to say, little one?" I asked her.

I had given all my children pet names. To me, it was a sign of affection that my father never showed me. It also served as a reminder to me that I was not my father, and I would show mercy to them. The girls seemed to like their pet names, and the boys preferred their given name, especially Edward, who loathed being called anything other than Edward. I had called Edward _buddy_ a few times before he rejected it completely. Emmett used to be _big guy, _and Jasper, _partner._ I still think of them that way, except for Edward who won't even let me think it. I do get away with calling them _son_ sometimes. I take what I can get. But like I said, the girls allowed me to call them pet names, and I did so every chance I could get. Rosalie is and always will be my _princess_. Alice was, of course, _little one_, and my newest nickname was _sweet pea_ for Bella.

"I should have listened to you and not allowed Edward to bribe me with a Porsche." She admitted. "I shouldn't have involved mom or made it seem like Rosalie was also with us."

"Yes," I agreed. "For my part, that is, the blatant disregard for the order I gave to not engage in subterfuge with your brother, you are grounded for the remainder of the school year, no driving, no hunting alone, and NO shopping, and a physical reminder about the importance of obedience." I told her and she whimpered, daring not to test me on this. "I will also be returning your car or selling it if the dealership won't take it back."

"Carlisle that's not…" She shot off the couch and stomped her foot at this, but was cut off when Esme landed a sharp blow to her backside. "Ow! Sorry, dad."

"My reasoning is this, little one." I spoke softly despite my annoyance at her temper tantrum. "It would be completely insensitive to Bella if I allowed you to keep the very thing you deemed valuable enough to disregard her feelings once again."

"Yes, daddy." She sighed in defeat, sitting back down on the couch.

"Now little one, your mother would like to discuss her punishment for you." With my eyes, I directed Alice to look at Esme.

"I'm sorry I tricked you into hurting Bella." Alice apologized.

"I am very disappointed that you would do that, Alice." Esme began her lecture. "You admitted that you saw her complying with your plan, and you believe that calling Jacob caused her to rethink her acquiescence, yet you failed to take into account Bella's emotional state which is equally as important as her actions. You and Edward seem to be under the misapprehension that her physical wellbeing is far more important than her emotions. You have both gone behind her back to manipulate her repeatedly. Your sister may never trust you again."

"Oh, no!" Alice cried tearlessly into her hands.

"She probably will because she's an exceptionally merciful person, but you can't assume that her forgiveness will always be available for you. It's very easy to take advantage of Bella because she is such a kindhearted person. Your father and I will be here to make sure that none of you run roughshod over her emotions because you know that she will forgive you." Esme explained.

"Yes mama." Alice sobbed.

"Is there anything you would like to add before we begin?" She asked Alice.

"I'm _really_ sorry, mama." Alice looked up at Esme with venom-filled eyes. "I promise to think about Bella's feelings from now on, and I will never trick you into hurting anyone, ever again."

"_I_ will hold you to that promise, little one." I interjected.

"Yes, daddy." She nodded to me.

I stood to excuse myself temporarily to let Esme get on with Alice's punishment, but my wife looked up and met my gaze with panic in her eyes. I wondered what this was about. She had administered spankings in the past, and hadn't begged me to let her out of it. She had never spanked Edward before because he reminded her so much of her little son that she lost just before she became part of our family, but she had spanked our other vampire children. On several occasions, she had been called to step in for me when I was away, and she managed just fine. I thought she could handle this. In fact, she offered to do it for me. I was very confused, to say the least.

"Darling?" I rushed to her side and held her in my arms. "Tell me what you need."

Esme opened and closed her mouth a few times, not managing to say anything. I assumed that she didn't want to ask me to do this for her since she had taken this task on herself. I tried to allow her the time to tell me what she wanted because I didn't want it to seem as though I felt she needed to be fixed in any way.

"This always overwhelms me." Esme clung to me and cried into my neck.

Did she mean that every time she was called to discipline one of our children, she was put through this emotional turmoil? This was the first time I would bear witness to more than a few warning swats from Esme. It is very probable that she did break down every single time she had to do this. I would have to give our children a stern warning to respect her authority while I was gone in the future. I couldn't have them taking advantage of her or putting her through this.

"I'm here however you need me to be, darling." I whispered to her.

"Thank you, dearest." She gave me another tight squeeze before she let me go. "I really feel that I need to do this myself, but I don't want to do it alone. Thank you for staying."

"Always." I promised her, knowing that I would take all of this on myself is she asked me to.

"I will do the main part of the spanking. You may do the end." She suggested, and I nodded in agreement.

Esme took an unnecessary breath to steel herself before turning to Alice.

"Alice." Her voice became stern. "Lie across my lap."

"You may place your head on my leg if you wish, little one." I told her not wanting to be separated from my wife in any way.

Alice looked as though she was considering mutiny, probably thinking that she deserved to choose her own position since she was being fairly cooperative.

I was about to threaten to blister Alice's hide again tomorrow when Esme took charge of the situation.

"Now, Alice or I'll do it on the bare. Esme told her.

Alice looked panic-stricken at me, probably seeing that I would also repeat the spanking tomorrow if she caused her mother any more distress. In a split second, Alice was positioned correctly with her head on my right leg. Esme flipped up her skirt but left her panties in place.

Esme took three deep breaths before her hand came down hard on Alice's backside. Alice buried her face in her hands, stifling a sob. It was strange to see how Esme's pattern differed from mine. I went for a random, unpredictable pattern across their backsides so that they didn't know where or when each spank was coming. Esme spanked the exact same spot ten times before doing the corresponding spot on the other side of Alice's bottom. Esme's hand also was quicker to release Alice's bottom, and though she didn't use as much force as I typically did, her spanking was very effective. I would have to think about that and try to incorporate it into my future sessions with our children.

After repeating this action a few times, she began to lecture, "This is never to happen again, Alice. Do you understand?"

"Yes, mama." Alice screamed.

"Your sister's feelings are not something to gamble with." Esme continued her lecture. "And you are never to hurt her as a result of a bribe. There is no price you should be willing to pay to betray your sister."

"Yes, mama." Alice repeated, now gripping my leg tightly.

"And you are to _never_ lie to me again, young lady." Esme punctuated her speech with harder swats.

"I'm sorry mama." Alice sobbed finally collapsing, spent.

Esme noticed and shifted her forward, all the way across my legs for the last portion. Since this was in response to the blatant disregard of a direct order, I pulled her panties down to fully expose her bottom to me.

"No, daddy, please!" Alice begged me to leave her panties in place, reaching back to stop me. Apparently she wasn't quite as spent as she would have us believe.

I grabbed both of her small hands into my left hand and pinned them to her back, giving her ten quick swats to her thighs and reminded her that reaching back was not allowed. "You know better than that, little one."

"Yes, daddy." She screamed. "Mmm sorry!"

"My orders are to be followed, little one." I told her as I landed the first rather hard swat to her bottom. She shrieked in surprise at the intensity. I went for more force since Esme had thoroughly covered her behind. "I intend to make that very clear."

"S-s-sorry!" She barely managed to screech.

Since she seemed to regain some of her confidence when I took over, I decided to give her a little warm up before I tipped her forward for the last ten. I gave her ten swats, covering the area that Esme had already spanked.

By the time I tipped her forward, she was definitely resigned to her fate and lying without any defiance over my lap. All of the last ten swats were extremely hard to drive my point home to Alice and make sure she never challenged my authority again.

After I finished, Alice was a sobbing mess, blubbering her apology over and over.

"It's okay, little one." I told her as I rubbed her back.

Esme pulled her into a hug when she finally sat up, and I wrapped my arms around both of them.


	5. The Bluff

**Author's Note: I'm sorry that I haven't posted on this story for awhile, but unlike my other story, I don't have this one pre-written, and I was stuck. I do plan on continuing this, but it won't be quick.**

**Chapter 5 – The Bluff**

Alice stayed in our arms for hours, promising repeatedly that she would never behave that way again. We snuggled with her until we were sure that she felt forgiven.

Esme and I went for a quick hunt, but I was not feeling better about confronting Edward when he got home. My beautiful, sensitive wife was still quite upset about having to discipline Alice, and I knew that I could not impose upon her to help out with Edward, especially since she has never successfully put her foot down with him in the past.

We arrived home around six, expecting to only find Alice and Rosalie, but surprisingly, Bella was there as well, just stepping out of the shower. Something was wrong, but I just couldn't put my finger on it.

"She's mad at Jacob, I think. She doesn't want to talk about it with me." Alice told us, sensing my worry. "I worry that it's because she doesn't trust me."

Part of me wondered the same thing. Bella may have been upset with Alice still, and unwilling to confide in her. I most assuredly wouldn't have blamed her for hesitating to trust Alice with anything important, but it still seemed rather unlike Bella to hold a grudge.

I let out a sigh and grabbed my darling wife's hand and headed upstairs to see if we can coax Bella into getting whatever was bugging her off of her chest. We walked slowly, giving Bella time to get dressed. When she finally exited the restroom, she looked torn over where she should sleep tonight. I could tell that she didn't want to go back to Edward's room, but she was unsure as to whether she would be welcome to sleep in her mother's and my bed again.

"Bella?" I startled her out of her contemplation.

"Can I stay with you and mom again tonight?" She bit her lower lip, still unsure if she would be accepted.

"Of course you are welcome, sweet pea." I nodded at her, smiling. "I would like to know, however, if this is still because you're upset with Edward or for a different reason."

"I am still a little upset with Edward, but Jacob…" she hesitated, looking her mother and I in the eyes for a few seconds before looking down the stairs to where she knew Alice was sitting.

"Are you injured?" I went into my doctor dad mode. This happened whenever any of my children were potentially in harm's way.

"No." She assured me, though I wondered if she would downplay any injury to avoid getting her friend in trouble with Edward. Before I could insist on a check up, Bella started to explain. "He just said…"

Again she was hesitant to say anything that Alice could repeat to Edward.

Alice ran upstairs and fell to her knees right in front of Bella and cried, "Please, Bella, I'm sorry that I've betrayed you time and again to Edward. Please forgive me. I promise, I will never use what you tell me against you."

Bella looked in Alice's eyes, searching to see if she could detect any hint of a lie before dropping to her knees beside Alice and smiling.

"I forgive you, Alice." She hugged her tightly.

"What did Jacob say to you, sweet pea?" I asked once she and Alice finally parted.

Bella's head lowered immediately and she tried unsuccessfully not to cry.

"He said that he wished I was dead." She mumbled, not meeting our eyes. We all three gasped in shock before she could continue. "And I didn't want to say anything because…"

"You thought that you'd get a big, fat 'I told you so' from Edward?" Alice guessed.

"Something like that." She nodded. "But it's not like he physically harmed me." She explained, sounding like she was defending Jacob… no, defending herself for going to see Jacob. "He was angry, but he controlled himself and didn't hurt me. I don't think I was wrong to go there, but I don't think Edward will see it that way."

"That's irrelevant, sweet pea." I assured her, kneeling and cupping her cheek. "Your mother and I trust your judgment in this matter."

"Absolutely, dear." Esme agreed with me as she joined all of us on the floor. "You were just two friends that had an argument. Sometimes friends say hurtful things to one another. It's an unfortunate truth, but it happens."

"I know." Bella sighed, still discontented. "I just think that if Edward knew what Jacob said, he would take it as confirmation that he was right in everything he did to keep me from seeing Jake, despite the fact that what Jacob said to me hurts me far less than what Edward said in the forest." She trailed off at the end, almost as if she was ashamed that she was bringing this up.

"Oh dear God!" Alice suddenly gasped in shock.

Alice got a spontaneous vision, and whatever it she saw caught her off guard.

"You're going to severely ground Edward right? No unsupervised time?" Alice knew she was treading on dangerous ground, discussing Edward's punishment with us, but she seemed like she thought that this was important.

"That's what we discussed." I confirmed.

"But that doesn't cover school." Alice stood and started pacing. She was very upset with Edward even though they were sins Edward hadn't yet committed. "This is very solid, so obviously, Edward already decided this as a contingency if Bella should elude me and make her way to the reservation."

Alice clearly didn't want to tell us this. She looked like she was hoping to change Edward's mind.

"Edward is planning on skipping school to tell Charlie that Jacob never got rid of Bella's motorcycle, and she sneaks off at night to ride with him, and he of course is concerned for her safety. To bolster his story, he will plant a helmet and riding jacket in Bella's closet. Charlie will ground her, and she will be forced to stay away from Jacob." Alice seemed disgusted by her brother's behavior, not that her own was any better, but after her spanking, she seemed to get her head on straight. "He will bow to your punishment, but again, he won't change in the slightest."

"That's it." Bella jumped off the floor and threw her hands in the air, and slowly made her way to Edward's room. When she arrived, I heard her sigh and softly say, "You win, Edward. I give up."

Before she could lie down, Esme and I were at her sides, embracing her.

"No, dearest," Esme pleaded with her, "we'll think of something to bring back the Edward we know is in there."

I said nothing. For the first time in my long relationship with Edward, I had absolutely no idea how to get through to him. He had no intention of changing, and I could discipline him harshly and repeatedly, but nothing would change the fact that my stubborn son was completely and unwaveringly set in his ways. Unfortunately, his ways were hurting my little sweet pea.

I looked adoringly at my daughter, and she looked back with… nervousness and fear. What was that about? I didn't think I had given her any reason to fear me.

"Why are you so scared, sweet pea?" I asked her.

"I _don't_ sneak out every night to see Jacob, but I _do_ still ride motorcycles with him when I see him. Charlie has forbidden it, but… are… you… mad?" She asked very hesitantly.

"Are you're worried that I will consider this reckless behavior?" I asked rhetorically, and more to myself than to her. Bella nodded anyway.

She was afraid that I would be disappointed in her for riding motorcycles with Jacob. I had stitched together a multitude of riders in my long medical practice, and seen many that didn't make it. Although it is true that alcohol played a significant role in some of the deaths, the tragic truth is that responsible motorcyclist are still at the mercy of the inattentive drivers of other vehicles. Two thirds of all multi-vehicle motorcycle fatalities are due to the fact that the _other_ drivers aren't paying attention. Did she wear a helmet or protective gear? Did she practice basic safety while operating the bike? Was she aware of the driving statistics and compensating for the stupidity of other drivers? These were all questions that we could answer later and decide if she could be safe on a motorcycle.

"I think you should hold off riding until we've addressed all the safety issues, sweet pea." I looked pointedly at her. "I'm not saying no to motorcycles, but I want to make sure you are being careful."

"Okay, dad." She agreed and hugged me.

"Back to the business at hand?" I steered the conversation back to Edward. I knew we had a limited amount of time before he arrived, but I had no idea what we should do about it.

"May I suggest something?" Bella asked timidly.

"I don't see why not." I sighed. "Alice doesn't see my plan working. If anything, it backfires."

"This may sound harsh…" she bit her lip nervously as she told me her plan.

The boys got home sometime after Bella went to sleep. It took awhile for her to give in and let sleep take over her body, but she finally gave up around one in the morning.

Bella understood Edward like none of the rest of us could ever possibly hope to. The gist of her idea was that Edward had to figure out for himself that he was out of line and repent before I could possibly discipline him.

For Bella's part, she called and confessed to her father that she sometimes still rode motorcycles with Jacob. Charlie was understandably angry, but she also informed him that first, she was an adult, second, she was planning on taking a break from them for awhile, and third, if he didn't throw a fit about her riding, it would royally piss Edward off. I think she sold him on that point, especially when he realized that grounding her would play right into Edward's hand to keep her away from Jacob. I wasn't surprised that Charlie knew about that. He may not have known all of the supernatural facts, but he clearly knew that my son was jealous of Jacob.

Esme was still having a hard time not being furious with Edward for hurting Bella. She decided to focus on redecorating Bella's new room… oh, yes, we moved Bella out of Edward's room into one that she could call her own. Rosalie stayed in her own room, not trusting herself to allow Edward to come to terms with this on his own. Alice was downstairs catching up on her homework. She promised to do everything in her power to force Edward to communicate verbally with her so that we could all hear him. I was upstairs, reading up on drug and device trials in the area.

Edward came home and immediately went to Alice. She told us that he would deduce that she had so much work to do because she didn't go to school today.

"Why did you let her go to school alone, Alice?" He growled at her, grabbing Jasper's attention immediately.

"Let her?" Alice laughed. "That implies that _I_ had a choice in what went on today."

"You mean to tell me that you not only got caught, but you also failed to keep her safe until I got back?" Edward's anger with Alice was escalating.

"You'd better take it down a few notches, son." Jasper growled at him.

"I can't believe you!" Edward shouted, ignoring Jasper's warning. "You _should_ have taken her to Olympia or something. I can handle Carlisle. I won't have Bella in danger."

"Did you go along with him, again?" Jasper asked Alice, shocked.

"Yes." She whispered, ashamed of herself.

"And you!" He turned back to Edward. "I told you to leave her out of your possessive plans!"

"I _will_ keep Bella safe." Edward's voice became very even and steady, seemingly leaving no room for argument.

"And _I _will keep Alice safe." Jasper sounded absolutely lethal. Edward may have been angry, but he knew that his mind-reading abilities in no way compared to the sheer survival skills that Jasper possessed, and would with out a doubt employ if he thought that Alice was in danger.

"Alice can make her own choices." Edward explained, ignoring the irony.

"And I've made it, Edward." Alice resolved. "I won't defy daddy again."

"It doesn't matter." Edward sighed. "I have another option."

"Don't ever ask her to do anything like that again." Jasper warned Edward. "Because I promise you, you _will _regret it."

"Whatever, Jasper." Edward sounded like he wasn't taking Jasper's threat seriously.

"Jazzy, no!" Alice yelled. Apparently Jasper didn't take too kindly to Edward's dismissal of his threat.

I hadn't counted on Jasper's reaction to Edward's insanity. I briefly considered going downstairs to break it up, but Alice warned me not to with her actions.

"I promise, Jasper. I won't do anything that foolish again." I could hear Alice dragging Jasper outside.

Not three seconds later, Rosalie found Emmett in the foyer, completely confused by the scene that unfolded before him. I heard her kiss him passionately, and drag him out of the house in the other direction.

Once the four of them had left, I refocused on my reading, studying the parameters of a synthetic aortic valve test that was being done in Seattle. There were a very limited number of the openings right now, and there was practically no chance that I would ever be able to do one of these operations. That being said, I did need to know if any of my patients were candidates for the new device, so that I could refer them to the doctors who specialized in transplants. Off the top of my head, it looked like I had two good candidates, but I wasn't sure I wanted to get their hopes up for a remote possibility of a trial that may or may not improve their quality of life.

Edward unceremoniously flopped down in the chair in front of my desk and huffed loudly.

I glanced up at Edward, "What can I do for you, Edward?"

Edward rolled his eyes at me, "Cut the bullshit, Carlisle. Let's get this over with."

"If you insist, Edward." I agreed amicably, pushing back from my desk.

Edward stood as well, getting himself into position in front of my desk, clearly ignoring the fact that I had promised him an over the knee thrashing. It didn't matter, though, because Bella had helped me change my mind about the way I was going to handle this. I carefully kept all of the plan out of my mind as I reached into my lower desk drawer and pulled out a briefcase full of money, approximately one hundred thousand dollars. I threw it on the desk right in front of his face. It landed with a landed with a loud thud. Confusion washed over Edward's face as he stood up. I let nothing slip about the plan, and he for once didn't have a clue what was going on.

"I cannot tolerate the level of deceitfulness you have engaged in over the last several weeks. You have decided to live far below the standard which I expect, Edward, and have left me no choice but to ask you to leave us." I told him evenly with a hint of sadness in my voice.

"What?!" Edward shouted in disbelief.

Esme knew our plan, but it didn't make it much easier to hear. A sob slipped out of her mouth from the other room. I knew this was breaking my wife's heart, but she had agreed that it was necessary. She was still distraught over losing her son.

"You are no longer going in the same direction as the rest of our family, much like the rebellion you engaged in over a human diet. And like that rebellion, I am asking you to leave our family." I explained patiently to him, this time, not pointing out his transgressions. Bella was right. He had to see that for himself.

"This is not even remotely the same as that time!" Edward argued vehemently.

"It seems the same to me, Edward." I countered, sighing. "In both instances, you have unwaveringly believed that your opinion is the only one that matters, and chosen to live outside of my authority and against my wishes."

"Now your opinion is the only one that matters?" Edward asked furiously.

"No, of course not, but like your experiment with a human diet, I cannot in good conscience allow you to stay here and destroy our family. You are free to have your own opinion about this matter, but it will be apart from us." I explained.

"And the money?" He eyed the briefcase.

"I have cut you off from our family accounts, but I didn't want to leave you destitute." I told him. "We will send you your things when you tell us where you are staying, or you are free to take them with you."

Edward shifted his eyes around the room, looking like a caged animal. He was completely desperate to stay, but I never wavered. There was only one way he could get back into my good graces, but he didn't look like he was figuring it out.

"Please, dad." He begged me, sounding broken. "Don't do this! I promise to do better!"

"I'm sorry, Edward, but I don't believe you." I responded coldly.


	6. The Fold

Chapter 6 – The Fold

"Please, dad!" Edward fell to his knees before my desk. "Give me one more chance! I'll do anything to stay with you. Don't kick me out!"

_Bella's plan_ was for us to ignore him until he came around, but I took it a few steps further. She didn't like it, but she understood. She trusted me despite the fact that she hated what had to be done. I think she only finally agreed to go along with it because she knew that I didn't _want_ to force my first-born son to leave. She knew that I merely wanted to give Edward a wake-up call.

I determined to follow through with my plan because Edward had not given me any indication that he was actually sorry he had put Bella through all that he had done to her or that he planned on any real change. I had to remain stoic for my little sweet pea.

"I'm sorry, but you have my decision, Edward. You may stay until the morning to explain this to Bella, but then, you will have to leave." I answered him, though it tore me up on the inside to say such a thing to my son, especially when I added, "This means you must vacate the area, as you will no longer be afforded the protection of the treaty since you are no longer part of the family. Say your goodbyes to her in the morning, and be on your way."

"I'll take her with me." He nodded to himself. "She'll come if I ask her."

"I've already talked to her, and she has agreed to stay with us." I told him.

"How am I supposed to protect her if I can't be anywhere near her?" He asked me incredulously.

"Her protection is no longer your responsibility." I informed him, remaining as business-like as possible.

"You are quite literally throwing her to the wolves, Carlisle." His eyes begged me to see his point of view, which he considered the only reasonable conclusion.

"No, Edward, I am protecting my little sweet pea from an abusive relationship." I told him, trying to keep the accusation out of my voice.

"ABUSIVE?!" He yelled at me, once again standing and looking as if he were going to attack me for even thinking such a thing about him.

I said nothing, but I couldn't keep the thoughts of Bella sobbing out of my mind. She had nearly no recourse against Edward when he _protected _her. He professed to be concerned for her safety, but he seemed to care very little for her emotional well-being. He did anything and everything in his power to watch her at all times. He was stronger, faster, and had supernatural gifts that made it easier for him to force her to do things. He may have left no physical marks on her body, but he was both controlling and manipulative. Though _I_ believed that it was out of jealousy, Edward _said_ he was doing it for her safety, afraid that Jacob might lose his temper. Alas, even if his motives had been pure, I was worried that Edward might cause all of Bella's uniqueness to disappear with his callousness. Who could say which was worse, losing your temper or calculatingly forcing your beloved to bend to your will?

"I'm worse." Edward whimpered as he sank all the way down to the ground, hanging his head in his hands. "I've been abusing her! I am a soulless monster!"

Edward broke down into gut-wrenching sobs. I made my way over to him and put my arms around him, no longer mistrustful of him, relieved that I didn't have to take this _tough love_ any further. I had been prepared to actually throw him out, but I was thrilled, and somewhat surprised that he finally began to see the light. I had no hesitation showing him affection. I didn't believe that he could fake this level of regret.

"I have been so jealous of Jacob and pretended that I was concerned for Bella's safety, but I really have done nothing but hurt her." He cried. "Do you think she'll ever forgive me?"

"Yes, son, I do." I told him, holding him tightly.

"Will you?" He asked nervously, and more quietly.

"Of course." I assured him, kissing the top of his head. "But if you're going to stay, then that means..."

He knew exactly what I was talking about. He was in for a spanking that he wouldn't soon want to repeat.

"I'm ready, dad." He stood up out of my arms and walked to the couch where he waited for me.

"Bella is sleeping right now, Edward." I sort of laughed at him as I joined him, directing him to sit on the couch with me. "We can have this particular discussion tomorrow after she goes home."

"May I go to her?" He asked me hopefully.

"In a little while. We need to discuss a few things first." I assured him. "First, I assume you'll be giving Bella a full apology as soon as she wakes?" I raised my eyebrows sternly at him.

"Yes, dad." He nodded. "And I'm sorry..." He began sobbing again, but I knew that was meant as an apology to me.

Esme, no longer able to contain herself, ran into the room and embraced Edward from the other side. Quite frankly, I was surprised that she lasted as long as she did.

"You're grounded, by the way." Esme told him, reminding me of the promise we made to Bella, shocking Edward and me. It was the first time, after eighty-five years of being his mother, that Esme dared to give Edward any sort of punishment.

"The point of the harsh grounding was to show him how he made Bella feel." I, ironically, tried to lessen the punishment Esme was giving him.

"I realized that. He understands that he was wrong to hurt Bella that way, but I'm not sure he fully grasps the way he has hurt everyone else." Esme told me, but looked at Edward.

"That's true." I nodded in agreement. "For one, you once again convinced Alice to manipulate Bella..."

"But you're giving me a... you know... for that tomorrow." Edward interrupted, looking hopeful that I would consider that matter closed.

"Your impending spanking is in regards to the direct order you disobeyed and the promise you broke." I gave him a pointed look, reminding him of what he had agreed to during our last discussion.

"Yes, sir," He ducked his head in shame as he saw my thoughts on the matter.

"You are grounded because you lied to Jasper, bribed your sister, and participated in deceiving your mother." I explained to him.

"Did you tell Alice to lie to me, Edward?" Esme looked hurt at the thought of her baby conspiring to deceive her.

"Yes ma'am." His head ducked even lower, ashamed that he had disappointed his mother.

"Do you know how hurt Bella was by that?" My beautiful, selfless wife asked, not mentioning how devastated she herself had become at the thought of Bella no longer trusting her.

He winced as he saw through our minds the gut-wrenching sadness Bella went through because she thought that Esme had betrayed her.

"I'm sorry, mom." He barely whispered to her.

"Two weeks, Edward." She pulled his chin so that he was looking her in the eye. "No piano, no music, and a hand-written apology to me, Jasper, Bella, and your father."

I knew that Esme was letting him off light, but I was very proud that my wife had finally put her foot down with him. I didn't add to her punishment for two reasons. First, I didn't want her to feel like I was over-running her wishes, and second, I couldn't take his car or phone because he needed those things to keep my little sweet pea safe.

He nodded slightly to let me know he appreciated my thoughtfulness and discretion.

"Yes ma'am." He answered her respectfully.

I knew that even if Esme wasn't currently worrying that Edward would hate her, she would be later. I silently begged him to hug her and tell her that he didn't hold any hard feelings toward her for having to punish him.

"I love you, mama." He quickly embraced his mother.

"Oh, Edward!" She cried, holding him tightly. "I love you too, baby."

"I'm really sorry, mom." He told her. "I shouldn't have taken advantage of you."

"I forgive you, baby." She rubbed his back.

"You may go lie with Bella now, Edward." I told him when they finally broke apart. "But if she doesn't want you there when she awakens, you are to leave and give her space."

"Yes sir." He nodded and quickly left for Bella's room.

Not surprisingly, Bella was overjoyed that Edward had come around so quickly, and she immediately forgave him.

Edward took Bella home the next day but came back with her not very long after supposedly going to her house to drop her off. I silently questioned him as to why he brought her to witness his punishment, but he very quickly explained his reasoning. Apparently, a vampire had visited her house while she was here with us.

Bella was very frightened, and quite frankly, so was I. I so badly wanted to bring her here permanently to protect her.

Edward and I discussed his upcoming discipline privately, and for the sake of Bella's peace of mind, we decided to put off his spanking. Tonight, Bella didn't want to be without Edward. She was terrified to be alone, and Edward agreed to forgo his discipline a little longer for her sake.

Sunday afternoon, Edward called me and told me that he had arranged a baby-sitter. I disliked that term, but he told me that _Bella_ had come up with the term, understanding that it was necessary, but still hating the need for it. I was absolutely shocked that her _baby-sitter_ was going to be Jacob. It confirmed my belief in him. I still planned on blistering his backside, but I was very relieved that he had changed his attitude that landed him in so much trouble in the first place.

While the others stepped out to hunt, Edward met me in my study. I was already seated on my couch waiting for him when he stepped in. He wore pajama pants, I assumed, to give me easier access. I was impressed with his high level of compliance.

"To paraphrase your earlier sentiments, let's get this over with." I told him with a sigh, directing him to lie across my lap.

"I don't suppose I could talk you into allowing me to bend over the desk?" Edward asked but giving me a look that told me he already knew the answer.

"I know that you have been very cooperative, but..." I trailed off, finding it very hard to actually go through with the planned punishment, now that Edward had finally broken.

Edward chuckled at my thoughts, but dropped his pants and bent over my legs. I debated allowing him to keep his boxers up but Edward interrupted my thoughts.

"Just do it, dad." Edward surprised me by trying to talk me into spanking him on the bare. He had to take a few breaths to attempt to speak clearly, but he still his voice was thick with emotion. "I _can't_ abuse her.

"Please keep me from even thinking about hurting her again." He sobbed.

I could feel the pain he was putting himself through. I couldn't allow him to feel this way any more. I quickly pulled his boxers down and landed the first hard swat.

Unlike most of my spankings with Edward, he cried out on the first smack. Although I was swinging very forcefully, I doubted it was merely from the pain in his backside. He had been living in turmoil since he finally realized how wrong he had been. I disliked putting off his spanking so long, but we both understood why it was necessary.

Since his will had already broken in my office two days ago, I had to focus purely on the pain he had caused my sweet pea. Most of the time when I disciplined my children, I could focus on reaction and gauge their attitude and determine when the punishment should end, but I couldn't do that this time. As I continued peppering his bottom, I let my thoughts stray to Bella giving up and deciding to become a shadow of her true self. I saw what could have been. If she had continued down that path, she would have become Edward's puppet. Her heart was so tied to his that she couldn't give him up. Edward choked out a particularly loud sob at that thought.

I found it ironic that he was worried about changing her, fearing she would forfeit her soul, but not two days ago, he did everything in his power to suppress her very nature, her compassion and kindness, everything that made up her soul. He was willing to corrupt it to keep her away from her best friend. Did he have so little faith in her?

"I trust her!" He shouted in response to my thoughts. "I don't trust _him_!"

Apparently _this_ spanking had caused Edward to become spontaneously honest, or maybe he just needed to get this off his chest. Whatever the reason, I decided to run with it.

"No, Edward." I added an extra-hard smack to his upper thighs. "Bella trusts Jacob, but you refuse to trust her judgement. What has she done to deserve your mistrustfulness?"

"She's _too_ trusting!" He screamed out. For the sake of his backside, it was a very good thing he didn't say because she snuck away from him to see Jacob. She had only done that in response to his controlling behavior.

"That's right, she's too trusting." I repeated his words back to him sarcastically. "_You_ are the accomplished liar." I admonished him striking his thighs once again. "It seems ironic to me that after all that you have put her through, she still trusts you, but you can't afford her the same courtesy she has without a single thought always given you.

"In fact, I would wager that until this disagreement, your entire relationship with Bella has been on your terms." I continued to punish him. "Her self-esteem is so low that she has given you everything you asked for, and then some because she's never felt worthy of you. What have you done to show her that she is wrong? Nothing... in fact, your refusal to trust her has nearly destroyed her."

At those thoughts, I began increasing the force behind my strokes.

"I swear, dad!" He screamed out at my thoughts. "I'll show her."

"You'll learn to trust her?" I asked, punctuating my question with an especially hard swat.

"Yes!"

"And you'll allow her to have some say in your relationship, do things you don't _approve_ of?"

"Yes!" He sobbed, completely devastated.

I turned my thoughts back to Bella and decided that she wouldn't want me to drag this out. I tipped Edward forward on my lap and battered his poor upper thighs with such force that he would definitely have a hard time sitting for the next few days.

"It's over, Edward. Your forgiven." I assured him.

After he had finished crying, he sat next to me on the couch, wincing as his rear-end made contact with the cushions.

"Tell me where I should start." he begged me, not wanting to accidentally fall back into his former habits.

"You've made a nice start by working things out with Jacob." I praised him. "I am very impressed with your attitude about the bonfire she went to tonight. It couldn't have been easy to let her go without an argument."

"She's agreed to be as safe as she can with him." He sighed, resigned to sit on the sidelines while Bella maintained her friendship with Jacob.

"Speaking of safety, I had been meaning to ask you about the helmet and jacket you bought to get Bella grounded." I asked, not accusing him, just wondering.

"Oh, hmmm, yeah..." He stammered, clearly thinking that he was still in trouble.

"No, no, Edward, you're all done, son. You're forgiven." I assured him. "I was merely hoping you could put them to good use and give them to Bella instead of ratting her out to Charlie."

This could prove to show Bella that he trusted her, yet at the same time wanted to keep her safe. It was a good compromise.

"Meaning you want her to wear them if she is going to ride with Jacob or anyone?" He smiled, thinking that was a great idea. "Absolutely."


	7. All In

**Author's Note: This is the end of this story. I have really enjoyed the journey, and all of the comments except one have been very good. And since that one was anonymous, I didn't know how to respond to it. Anyway... I don't want to get into that. I just want to thank every one who took the time to review. The other thing I wanted to mention was that Cruelty by WolfandVampire deals with this same instance, and I wanted to have a completely different take on it. I love her story to pieces, but I didn't want to copy it. **

**On that same note, I hope that no one hates me for this chapter. **

Chapter 7 – All In

In the weeks to come, Edward really had mellowed, and I had never seen Bella so happy, that is, until Victoria and her newborn army came for the sole purpose of killing Bella. To be quite honest, I was worried about the battle as well until the Quileutes graciously offered to help protect her and destroy this threat.

All of us, Cullen's and Quileutes alike, breathed a collective sigh of relief when we had escaped the battle with all of our lives. Esme and I were both heartbroken that the Volturi demanded that the newborn vampire, Bree, pay with her life for something she over which she had no control. Alas, we could do nothing to stop them, or else we would forfeit our own lives in the process. My wonderful, caring wife broke down later that night in my arms, having already accepted this young vampire as part of our family.

The one physical injury we suffered was unfortunately Jacob Black, Bella's best friend. He was severely wounded and incapacitated when he tried to save Leah from a lone newborn who had gone unnoticed. Bella had been devastated.

Even after all of that, I was relatively happy. My little sweet pea was safe.

The day after the battle, I heard Bella and Edward arrive. I was overjoyed to hear that Bella had accepted Edward's proposal. Although I had no hesitation calling Bella my daughter, I was positively tickled that she had decided to officially join our family. That being said, I was a little fearful that she had given complete control of their upcoming nuptials to Alice. Alice silently promised me to give Bella a wedding she would love.

"Would you like to see your dress?" Alice asked her.

"Maybe later." Bella told her as her heart sped up in nervousness. "I need to talk to Carlisle... alone."

"_Why is she nervous about talking to me?_" I asked Edward privately.

"I... I have no idea." Edward whispered back to me. "Alice?"

"Sorry," Alice joined the conversation, "she would be upset with me if I told you, Edward. She doesn't mind if you hear, but she needs to say this to Carlisle."

"He's in his study, love." Edward told her as he kissed her and sent her on her way.

Bella slowly made her way to my study. I had the distinct feeling that this was very much like a march towards her execution. Had Edward done something to her that she needed to tell me but dreaded telling me?

"I... don't think... so." Edward whispered carefully.

"Come in, sweet pea." I welcomed her before she knocked on the door.

"I'm not your sweet pea." She told me, sounding heartbroken, sitting on my couch. Her head was downcast, and her shoulders were slumped. "I'm a terrible person."

"No!" Edward choked.

"Of course you're my sweet pea, and I don't believe for a second that you're a terrible person." I assured her as I joined her, wrapping her in my arms. I had believed that she wanted to speak with me because Edward hadn't been behaving as I had hoped, but I was wrong. This was a confession.

"Let her say it, Edward!" Alice whispered furiously at Edward, and I believe, blocking his path to my study.

"_You will remain quiet __and let her get this off her chest__._" I thought to him.

"Yes, sir." He whispered back to me from right outside my door, not bearing to be far away from her.

"Before I leave," Alice spoke cryptically from the doorway to the house, carefully wording her warning so that she didn't betray her sister. "I need to tell you that you _have _to do it, dad. She will feel... _unloved_ if you don't. I can't say more."

She and the rest of the children quietly made their way out of the house in order to give us privacy. Esme remained. I'm not sure if it was for moral support or if she believed I would need assistance. Either way, I was grateful that she stayed.

"I... I hurt Edward." Bella whispered.

I could tell that Edward was struggling to remain outside my study.

"How so, sweet pea?" I pulled her onto my lap.

"I kissed Jacob." Her voice was thick with the guilt that she had been carrying around. It must have happened just before the battle with Victoria's army.

"Bella..." I tried to comfort her, and tell her that no one was angry with her, but I realized that wasn't true. She was angry with herself.

"I promised to marry Edward!" She sobbed. "Not two days later, I kiss another man! Not only that, I _asked _him to kiss me, and Edward heard the whole thing!"

"Bella," I tried unsuccessfully to get her attention, "sweet pea..." still nothing, I decided to use what Emmett called, my dad voice, "Isabella."

"Yes, dad?" She finally looked up at me, afraid of what she might find.

I kissed her cheek and wiped her tears away. I focused on showing her how much I loved her. It wasn't hard. Every time she called me dad, a warmness spread throughout my whole body.

"I love you, sweet pea." I assured her. "I can't tell you how proud I am of you for telling me."

"Proud?" She sobbed. "I'm... a cheater!"

"You made a mistake, Bella." I gently rubbed her back soothingly. "It isn't the end of the world."

"Carlisle." Edward spoke softly outside of my door. "It isn't her fault. Please let me explain."

"Edward would like to say something, Bella." I told her. "Would it be alright if he came in?"

She shrugged her shoulders and mumbled, "I guess."

Before I could say 'enter,' Edward flung open the door to my study, and stood in front of me.

"Please don't spank her, Carlisle." Edward begged me. "He tricked her. He knew what he was doing, and he manipulated her into kissing him."

"It doesn't matter." She interrupted him. "I didn't have to... be unfaithful."

"He gave you the choice of kissing him or allowing him to get killed in the battle!" Edward argued vehemently.

"Is that true, Bella? Did Jacob threaten suicide?" I asked her, knowing how manipulative and technically abusive it was for Jacob to present her with those options.

"He was very upset." She sniffled. "But, yeah, he told me that I wasn't the only one capable of self-sacrifice. I begged him to stay, but he didn't want to settle for merely being my _best man._"

That means he knew of her promise to marry Edward. It might have made more sense to wait until after the crisis had passed to tell him. I decided to ask her about it.

"Do you really feel that the brink of a battle was the best place to announce your engagement?" I asked her.

"I-I," her gaze drifted briefly to Edward and then back to me, "wish I had waited to tell him, but I didn't know he was listening." Her countenance became even more sorrowful, her voice more strained. Clearly, she blamed herself for that as well. "I should have waited until later to talk to Edward about that."

_She didn't know he was listening?_ I thought to Edward as I slowly raised my eyes to look at him. He was not looking at me, but at the floor, avoiding my gaze.

"Exactly what did he hear?" I asked Edward, but Bella answered.

"Edward and I were talking about our all-time favorite nights." She told me. "I..."

"I told him, dad." Edward finally admitted. "I knew he was listening and divulged that information on purpose."

"Explain." I ordered, somewhat irritated that Edward had made no attempt to explain this to Bella earlier, allowing her to suffer, filled with guilt.

"It was a stupid thing to do." Edward began his full confession, not escaping my attention that he wouldn't have said anything if Bella hadn't accidentally mentioned it in her own very brave confession. "Jacob and I had a relatively peaceful talk while Bella was sleeping. I had been grateful that he could keep her warm when I could not."

"Grateful? Really?" I asked him, not believing that for a second.

"I wasn't grateful at _first_, but after Jacob's body temperature had helped Bella warm up enough to be able to sleep, I realized that he had earned my gratitude, despite his rather disturbing fantasies about my fiancee." Edward continued, rolling his eyes.

"Go on."

"We spoke cordially, and he fell asleep." Edward sighed, hating that he had to tell me this. "When Bella woke up, she couldn't get him off of her, and I childishly dumped Jacob out of the sleeping bag, waking him up when his bare back hit the ice-cold ground."

"Very mature." I told him sarcastically, smirking a little bit. While not the kindest behavior, no harm had been done. I had wondered for awhile now if Edward had it in him to be playful like his brothers. Emmett must be rubbing off on him. Though a bit juvenile, I was glad to see that Bella had brought this less serious side out of him.

"Jacob was understandably upset by what I had done." He shrugged, chuckling slightly. "He went to the tree-line and deliberately thought about... _Bella._" Edward's emphasis told me that Jacob's thoughts weren't exactly chaste. "That's putting it mildly." Edward answered my thoughts. "He got progressively more explicit until I snapped.

"In a fit of pettiness, I purposely announced our engagement... despite the fact that Bella wanted to tell him later." He finished with a resigned sigh. "I disregarded her wishes again because of jealousy." He hung his head in shame. He knew that he was in trouble, especially since he had been determined to keep this little gem a secret until he saw that Bella considered this her fault.

"You and Jacob Black have waged tug-of-war with Bella's heart, and have nearly ripped her in half in the process." I chastised him, and he winced. "You will go for a quick hunt and be back in two hours."

I had to take care of Bella first. She had been tearing herself apart for far too long already.

"No!" He growled at me causing Bella to flinch violently.

"Excuse me?" I asked as evenly as possible, though I was positively shocked that Edward had used that tone of voice and openly defied me.

"This whole situation is my fault, Carlisle. You can't spank her." He explained desperately. "Give me two instead."

"N-n-no..." Bella started to answer, but I cut her off.

"That's not the way this works, Edward. Please take your leave and go hunt." I ordered him, allowing him the little slip in his temper seeing that this was the first time I ever had to discipline his mate.

"Goddamn it, Carlisle! You are one heartless son of a..." Edward yelled standing firmly in front of me, looking as if he were about to snatch Bella off of my lap and run for it.

While he was mid-sentence, I quickly placed Bella on the couch beside me and grabbed my first-born son by the ear, earning a yelp of surprise. He had used up his free chance. Now it was time to face the consequences.

I dragged my wayward son toward the corner , but Esme, who had entered just seconds before, grabbed him by the other ear.

"I would like to have a word with Edward in private, darling." She told me while she gave Edward a withering glare. "Would you mind if I take Edward out for a bit?"

"Are you sure, dearest?" I gazed into her eyes, searching to see if she was really ready to take this step with Edward.

"Positive." She nodded at me. "Edward needs an attitude adjustment right now, and Bella is too fragile to wait."

"If you give her _any _trouble," I directed my attention to Edward, worrying for my beloved, "I will have you over my knee every night for a week."

"Yes, sir." Edward finally submitted to his mother and me.

"I'll send him back when we're finished." My lovely, brave wife told me, not taking the slightest offense at the suggestion that she might be easily manipulated. "He can give you a full report. If you're not satisfied with how I've handled it, you may add to it."

"No sooner than two hours." I told her. "I don't know how long this will take with Bella."

After they were out of Edward's hearing range, I indulged in the self-doubt I had been staving off for awhile. Was I being a heartless son of a bitch like Edward had suggested? Bella probably never has never had a spanking before. Maybe I should just find another way to do this. I paced the room weighing my options when Bella's unsure voice pulled me out of my reverie.

"Is it because I'm not really your daughter..." My insecure daughter must have seen my hesitation to spank her as a sign that she wasn't really part of our family. Alice was right. She said that I _had_ to do it. It made sense now. Bella would feel like she wasn't my daughter if I didn't discipline her the way I did with my other children. I had to do this. There was no other option.

First thing's first though. I needed to make sure she understood that she already was my daughter. I rushed back to the couch and kneeled beside her, gripping her chin with my thumb and forefinger.

"I _never _want to hear those words come out of your mouth again." I told her very sternly. "You are absolutely my daughter. Do you understand me, young lady?"

I was terribly afraid that I had overdone it. I considered reassuring her, but she looked relieved.

"Yes, sir." She sighed, smiling slightly at me.

"Please don't call me 'sir'." I groaned at that word. It made me feel so... _harsh_. "I prefer dad, daddy, papa, or pops... or even Emmett's favorite, 'old man'."

"Old man?" She giggled. "That... seems... wrong."

"I'm nearly four hundred." I reminded her, glad that she found that amusing.

"But you look..." She didn't know how to phrase it. "I know that you _are_ technically old, but..."

"Thank you, sweet pea." I kissed the top of her head as I sat next to her and wrapped my arms around her shoulders.

"Is Edward alright?" She asked me, worry etched across her face.

"I won't discuss his discipline with you anymore than I would discuss yours with him." I explained to her.

"No, that's not what I mean." She was still very concerned for him, now I realized not for his discipline session with Esme, but about his outburst. She wanted to know if he was emotionally alright.

"Ah." I smiled at her, showing her that I understood her sentiments. "Edward is very upset at me because he doesn't want me to spank you. He isn't handling it well."

"I shouldn't have come..." She looked at the floor with tear-filled eyes, ashamed that she sought the absolution of punishment. "Edward said he felt better..."

"You did the right thing, sweet pea." I assured her. "Edward feels that I intend to unfairly discipline you. On top of that, you are his beloved, and it is your first time in this position with me."

"He's not mad at me, is he?" She asked nervously.

"Absolutely not." I kissed her head reassuringly once again.

"How do we...?" She wondered, drawing my attention back to the fact that she had probably never done this before period, not just with me.

"Have you ever been spanked before?" I asked her.

"No." She shook her head at me.

"Then let's discuss my procedure." I took an unnecessary breath before I continued my speech to her. "Whenever I spank one of my children, I always try to get them to see the error of their ways before we begin. That doesn't apply today because you have come to me with a full confession. Since you have been cooperative, and you haven't been blatantly out of line, I will allow you to choose the position you are to be in. Had you behaved otherwise, I would choose the position."

"I never really gave much thought to position. I just assumed it would be over your lap." She looked up at me nervously, practically begging me with her eyes to choose that posture.

"Across my lap is the way I would choose to do it if you were unruly, which you have not been." I assured her, explaining my reasoning. "I find it much easier to control uncooperative vampire if I can quickly pin him or her between my legs, should they get out of hand. If you prefer you can lean over my desk, the arm of the chair, bend down and touch your toes, or lie on pillows across the bed."

"I think I'll stick with over your lap" She told me, blushing.

"Could you tell me why?" I asked her, wondering what the blush was about.

"Hmm..." she collected her thoughts. "Well... touching my toes seems difficult, and over the desk or anything else seems so cold and impersonal like being sent to the principal's office. Over your lap seems... fatherly. It reminds me that it isn't about making me fall in line, but that you really care about me."

"I think this is a perfect choice for you, sweet pea." I kissed the tip of her nose.

"Also, I don't want to have to think about supporting my own weight." She admitted. "I want to concentrate on why I'm here."

"Another excellent point." I told her but then remembered I hadn't told her the rest of it. "There is one more thing I haven't mentioned. I usually do spankings over the undergarments."

"Oh." She blushed. "Is that safe?"

"If I really _wanted_ to injure you, I assure you that your pants wouldn't give you any protection." I reminded her, but as I said this, it occurred to me that she might have been worried about bruising. "And I can promise you that I will not leave any lasting damage.

"Okay." She nodded her head trying to show me that she trusted me, but her pulse raced, letting me know that she was incredibly nervous about her impending punishment.

"It's best not to put this off any longer, sweet pea." I told her as she again nodded and stood from where she was seated.

Her fingers trembled violently as she attempted to unbutton her jeans. I reached out and stilled her movements, quickly releasing the button for her and guided her over my lap to protect her modesty before I arranged her pants so that they were in the proper position.

She was still shaking as she awaited the first swat. I patted her back to let her know I was about to start. I took a deep breath and delivered the first blow.

I was very surprised that she made no noise at all upon the impact of that first swat. I hesitated briefly, and then swatted her again, and like the previous time, she didn't even utter the slightest sound. As I continued to hesitantly spank her, I realized the reason. Bella was stubborn. Edward was stubborn too, but in a different way. Edward's stubbornness manifested itself as defiance during discipline, but Bella was completely different. She completely held everything in, barely daring to breathe.

I settled into a steady rhythm, hoping that she would quickly break, but unfortunately for her backside, she did not. I decided that I could spank her a little harder, and I increased the force behind my blows. This caused Bella to let out a little squeak. I took a page out of Esme's book and spanked her in that very same spot four more times before I changed to another spot. Each of the swats earned me the tiniest of muffled cries. Meanwhile, I silently begged her to please, please, please release her emotions so we could be done with this and move past it.

Again, I swatted her harder than before, and Bella let out a sob. She was very close, but she remained rigid over my lap. I raised my right leg slightly to spank her from a new angle, one that I knew would be very sensitive and help her finally forgive herself.

"I'm sorry!" She finally screamed out and surrendered, sobbing. I gave her bottom five more swats before I stopped. I allowed her to calm down a bit, over my lap as I rubbed her back. Eventually, she raised herself up and fixed her pants.

She looked unsure as to what came next. I held out my arms to her, and she quickly accepted my invitation, sitting carefully on my lap.

"I'm sorry, dad." She sniffled at me softly.

"I know, baby." I assured her. "You're forgiven, sweet pea."

Bella tried to be brave and get up, but I held her in place.

"You can stay here as long as you like." I told her, and she slumped back into my arms, once again sobbing.

For the longest time, she cried into my shirt until finally, she gave up and fell asleep.

Edward came in later, clearly distraught about Bella's punishment.

"Is she alright?" He worried.

"I believe so." I nodded.

"How did it go?" He asked, and I narrowed my eyes at him, warning him that it was none of his business. "Never mind."

"How did it go with you?" I asked him, reminding him that he owed me a full report on how his mother handled his discipline.

"Awful." He groaned. "I don't think you have to worry about her taking it easy on me. I prefer your spankings by a wide margin."

"She was excessively hard?" I asked him, not believing him.

"Not physically, no you've got her beat there. I'd rather have the physical pain you give me than the emotional turmoil." He sighed, shuddering at the memory. "She just thinks about things that I would rather not see, like being abused by her ex-husband, her son dying, Bree being destroyed in front of her, and worst of all, imagining that I am her baby son, and she's abusing or killing me."

"That's awful." I gasped. "How does she find the strength to do it?"

"She doesn't want to disappoint you, and she knows that you would be overwhelmed if you had to be the sole disciplinarian." He explained. "She thought about that as well."

"I think it might be best if we don't put either one of you in that position again." I told him. "I don't think it would be good for either of you."

"I appreciate it, dad." Edward smiled at me.

"On that note, I believe I will forego any additional discipline. I believe you've endured enough emotional turmoil for one day." I told him as I glanced to the couch beside me, hoping that he was at least comfortable enough to sit down.

"I'll suffer." He rolled his eyes at me. "Bella is worth it."

"She is." I agreed with him.

"How long has she been asleep?" He wondered as he stroked her back gently.

"About an hour." I told him.

"Do you think that Esme could take her out for a bit after she wakes up? I think I actually do need to have a discussion with you." He nervously bit his lip, reminding me of Bella.

"About?" I prompted him to continue.

"Bella called it compromise, but I feel that I've once again taken advantage of her insecurities." He looked at his feet as he spoke. "She wanted to make love, but I wrangled her acceptance of my proposal out of it, agreeing to try to make love if she would marry me first."

"That actually sounds reasonable to me. You both get something you want in the process." I didn't quite understand why he would think he was in the wrong.

"But I want both of these things, dad." He sighed. "I didn't let on that I wanted it as much as she does, and I told her that I would only give in if she married me first, and now she's agreed to allow Alice to run the whole show. I'm worried that you were right, and I've lost her. Is she just giving everyone what they want?"

"I don't think you need a reminder from me, son. You seem to have caught yourself, this time. You need to rectify this." I told him.

"I'll take her to the meadow when she wakes up." He promised me.

"Let her choose, though." I reminded him. "Sometimes, you get blinded by your need to do the right thing, and you forget that the right thing is allowing Bella to choose."

"I will dad." He assured me.

"One more thing, son," I waited until he looked up at me before I continued, "don't badger her about her spanking. If she wants it to remain private, you will allow her this secret."

"Yes, dad." He smiled at me.


End file.
